Neknominate

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A man who swallowed a live goldfish as part of a Neknominate dare has been fined £300 after a video of the stunt was posted on Facebook.

RSPCA chief inspector Michelle Charlton said 22-year-old Gavin Hope drank a glass of water with the fish in it.

Gavin Hope was convicted after swallowing a live goldfish as part of a Neknominate game. Credit: Press Association

She said: "A vet report advised that the stomach would be a completely unsuitable place for a goldfish and that the fish would have died in time, the cause of death being a mixture of suffocation and acid ph levels in the stomach, as well as the alcohol he drank."

The RSPCA said Hope told them that he had owned the goldfish for a couple of months. He said he thought it was ill as it kept swimming into the sides of its tank and he was going to flush it down the toilet but decided to drink it as part of his Neknomination challenge instead.

The society said Hope, of Lauder Way, Pelaw, Gateshead, appeared before magistrates today, where he was also ordered to pay a £30 victim surcharge and £431.17 costs, after pleading guilty to an offence under the Animal Welfare Act.

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The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales, said social media operators such as Twitter and Facebook have a "responsibility" to display warnings over drinking craze Neknominate.

Twitter and Facebook should introduce warnings over the drinking game Neknominate, which has been linked to several deaths, councils across England and Wales have said.

Twitter and Facebook should introduce warnings over the drinking game Neknominate, councils have said. Credit: Reuters

The Local Government Association said prominent messages were needed on the websites about the dangers of the craze, which involves people filming themselves downing alcohol, nominating someone to continue the game, and posting the video on social media sites.

The industry-funded charity Drinkaware is calling on parents to take a tough stance against the Neknominate game amid fears the trend could spread to young teenagers.

Research suggests that children are more than twice as likely to have an alcoholic drink if they have felt encouraged to do so.

Elaine Hindal, chief executive of Drinkaware said: "Young people should also be reminded that the behaviour of some older teens taking part in social media drinking games is not something to be copied - it can have serious implications."

I'm sure we can all remember feeling invincible as a child and keen not to be left out of the crowd, but as parents we know the real danger of a trend which encourages young people to take unnecessary risks and to put pressure on their friends to do the same.

Parents have more influence than they think. We want to protect our children from the pressure to drink alcohol under age and can play a vital role in doing so by giving them the confidence to say no.

We believe it's better to have the 'alcohol chat' in the living room than in A&E."

– Elaine Hindal, chief executive of Drinkaware

More than a third (35%) of 10 to 17-year-olds who use social networking sites have seen photos of their friends drunk.